1961 - Ford F-100 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Guess which brand's not on a top 10 list of best EVs (hint: it's Tesla)

Few surprises lurk in Autotrader’s list of its 10 best electric vehicles of 2023, but there is one that stands out: no Teslas. There's Hyundais and Kias, Porsches and Fords, a BMW and a Nissan. But Â… no Teslas. Although many of us admit to being over-Musked and tired of reading about him, the lack of a Tesla model on a selection of the 10 most desirable current EVs is conspicuous by its absence. Asked about this particular omission, we received this rather vague response from Autotrader spokesperson Brenna Buehler at Cox Automotive: “Tesla models were included in consideration but didnÂ’t get sufficiently high scores by the Editorial team to qualify for the top 10.” At least some Tesla offerings appeared to meet all the requirements set by the website. The manufacturers must offer 2023 model year vehicles, and they have to be sold in at least 15 states. Check. Only pure EVs were allowed on the list; there are no hybrids, plug-in hybrids or hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Check. The base manufacturer's suggested retail price must be less than $100,000. Check. Let the debates begin. Moving on, it should be noted that two Genesis models, a G80 sedan and GV 60 SUV, are listed, along with a Lucid Air midsize sedan, the Rivian R1T pickup, and the Porsche Taycan. Here is the full list, with the remarks and comments from Autotrader's raters. (And we've included links to Autoblog's own reviews for a deeper dive). The EVs are listed in alphabetical order by brand, so don't read anything into the order of presentation: 2023 BMW i4 BMW reboots its EV approach and comes up with a winner: Whatever you thought of BMW's first run at EV, the i3, it was missing a certain something – it didn't look or perform like a BMW. The 2023 BMW i4 corrects course with a Gran Coupe that our editors agree looks and drives like a BMW. 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Ford's electric pickup gathers steam in its second year: The F-150 Lightning somehow synthesized decades of pickup truck knowledge with the latest and greatest EV technology and infused thoughtful details and user-friendly features. 2023 Genesis Electrified G80South Korea's luxury brand shows how to elevate the executive EV sedan without breaking the bank: Genesis, Hyundai's luxury offshoot, rethought the gasoline-powered luxury sedan, the G80, and developed the 2023 Genesis Electrified G80. Precisely as the name hints, the Electrified G80 replaces the G80's engine with an all-wheel-drive EV powertrain.

Ford tweaking Model E dealer program to address dealer concerns

Ford's been working on its strategy and sales reorganization for a couple of years, the initiative that created the Blue (ICE), Pro (commercial), and Model E (electric) divisions. On the Model E side, part of continuous reworking of the EV arm has been in response to dealer lawsuits filed in numerous states, since Model E not only stipulated investments of anywhere from $500,000 to $1.2 million, the automaker initially wanted dealers to set no-haggle pricing, offer remote pickup and delivery for service appointments, and build chargers that would operate around-the-clock. Another big part of the tweaks to Model E is the continually unstable ground the entire electric project is built on. As part of understanding what dealers are facing and how to keep the electric wheels turning, Automotive News reports that the automaker held 11 meetings with dealers this year in six cities. Based on the feedback, more changes are coming to Model E as soon as next month.   During the roadshow, Ford told dealers to pause their investments into getting certified for Model E. This directive followed a corporate change in plans as Ford pulled investments in battery-electrics in favor of consumers' choice for hybrids. The head of Ford Blue — the internal-combustion-powered division that, with Ford Pro, has been paying the bills as Model E posts big losses — told AN, "We don't want them to make any decisions between now and the middle of June, when you can maybe have a more informed decision-making process based off what we work out with council in the next few weeks." One change has already been made public, the VP of EV programs telling an AutoNews business conference audience, “What weÂ’re finding is more dealers want to be involved in it and we donÂ’t want to be exclusive to just a handful, and so weÂ’re making a change where weÂ’re opening up that and not requiring as many certifications or investments for a dealer to participate in the EV revolution." Don't take that comment as a revelation; since the beginning, dealers complained about being excluded and needing to throw so much money at the program. Take that comment as Ford needing to find a better way in the "rapidly changing" environment. The official list of updates won't come until next month, when Ford meets its dealer council, and it should touch on topics beyond EVs.

Three automotive tech trends to watch in 2018 and beyond

Every year, technology plays a bigger and bigger role in the auto industry. To put things in perspective, 10 years ago iPod integration and Bluetooth were cutting-edge in-car innovations, and smartphones and apps weren't yet a thing since the first iPhone was only about six months old. And I can't recall anyone talking about autonomous cars. Compare that to today, with mainstream coverage of the auto industry dominated by autonomous technology, along with electrification and almost every move made by Tesla. These three topics were the most significant trends of car tech in 2017 and I believe they will continue to shape the auto industry in 2018 and beyond. Let's examine them. Full Autonomy Gets Closer to Reality While there were many developments this year that indicate we're inching closer to fully autonomous vehicles, I was behind the wheel for hours to witness one of them. In October I had the chance to test Cadillac Super Cruise on a 700-mile, 11-hour drive from Dallas to Santa Fe – and had my hands on the wheel for maybe 45 minutes max throughout the entire trip. Super Cruise is far from making the Cadillac CT6 or any GM vehicle fully autonomous, and has limitations such as functioning only on pre-mapped main highways. While it simply adds a layer of lane centering to adaptive cruise control, the technology will go a long way in making mainstream drivers more comfortable with letting machines take over. On a separate front, GM is pushing ahead with fully autonomous vehicles and announced last month that it plans to launch of fleets of self-driving robo-taxis in several urban areas in 2019. While most automakers are also in the race to make autonomous cars a reality, GM's turbocharging of its efforts appeared to be in response to Waymo, which announced just weeks earlier that its Early Rider Program in the Phoenix area would go completely driverless. The Early Rider Program launched last April, offering the public a chance to ride in Waymo's autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans. In this new phase of testing, Waymo is using its own employees as guinea pigs instead of the public while the vehicles operate without a human behind the wheel, and takes another giant step forward for fully autonomous driving.